Sheep Shots: Sounds In the Night

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Sounds In the Night

There are few things that make me cringe more than the sound of the snow plow/salt truck while it's still dark out.

This morning was a Cringe Day.

Our driveway was still have ice-coated because it's in the shade for the better part of the day. There's snow pack under that ice, if we could just break through, the blacktop would be exposed and the sun's warmth would help with the melt.

Ice melt (calcium chloride) is in short supply. We were able to score 100 pounds (2 bags) at a small independent hardware store. Customers were sitting on their bags so that they wouldn't lose out.

The Big Box stores were sold out (but promising there will be more on Monday).

Salt (sodium chloride) is a piss poor substitute.

Spring can't get here soon enough!

Labels: current events

// posted by Ann @ 2/05/2011 06:27:00 PM

Comments:

I don't know how bad your snow pack crust is, but I discovered (in NW Ohio) a trick that might help.

The stuff the plow left at the end of my drive was crusted over and hard as a rock. I found one spot that allowed me to break through, and I cleared that.

Then, I was able to dig out the looser snow from under the crust, and an amazing thing happened: once the support structure was gone from underneath it, the crust gave way with a few good taps from my shovel (or my foot).

I was able to break it into manageable chunks, and instead of plowing or shoveling, I just chucked them by hand.

True, it took an hour and a half to clear the three feet at the end of the drive so I could get out (and I'm sore as the dickens), but it worked, and I didn't have to wait for spring. :-) Maybe a little ice melt on one portion would give you enough room to break in and dig.

Good luck!

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